Russia
first appeared on the scene of what would become the International Space Station after NASA had concluded that it would be able to address
the issue of the emergency return from the station quickly and economically
by incorporating the veteran Soyuz spacecraft into the design of the outpost. On June 18, 1992,
NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin and Director General of the Russian Space
Agency Yuri Koptev "ratified" a contract between NASA and NPO
Energia to study possible integration of Soyuz and Russian docking ports into the
Freedom project.

Zarya (Sunrise)
control module, also known as FGB, which stands for Russian abbreviation
of Functional Cargo Block, became the first element of the ISS to be launched.
The idea of the module was proposed by Khrunichev Enterprise. The Zarya/FGB
is based on the TKS spacecraft originally developed for the canceled project
of the Almaz military orbital station. Before its reincarnation as the
Zarya/FGB, the TKS had flown as the transport ship, resupplying the Salyut-6
and 7 space stations.

The Zvezda
service module is Russia's main contribution into the ISS project. The
spacecraft was originally conceived as a core of a space station, which
would follow Mir. In 1993, the Russian Space Agency, facing financial
uncertainty with its Mir-2 project, offered NASA to incorporate the core
module into the design of the US space station. The spacecraft would provide
living quarters as well as refueling capability to the fledgling space
station. It also contained a treadmill for the crew.

The
Docking Compartment provides a hatch one meter in diameter and the airlock
for the space walks from the Russian segment of the station. (NASA plans
its own, larger airlock attached to the US segment of the outpost) The
Docking Compartment will also provide a third docking port for the Russian
transport ships heading toward the station. The concept of the module
was originally developed for the Mir-2 project.

The concept
of the Science and Power Platform, NEP, originated in the Mir-2 project,
where a special truss was expected to carry an array of solar panels,
power-generating concentrators, radiators and scientific payloads. The
truss would extend symmetrically on both sides of the Mir-2's core module.
After Russian Mir-2 and NASA's Freedom programs merged in 1993, NEP was
reconfigured to meet goals of the new project.

Universal Docking Module, USM

Universal
Docking Module, USM, (sometimes referred to as UDM) would serve as a hub for four additional modules
of the Russian segment.
The 20-ton vehicle was to dock to the nadir (Earth-facing) docking port of the Zvezda service module. On the opposite (bottom) end, the UDM would have
a transfer section with five docking ports for science modules, Docking
Compartment-2 and transport ships.

Science
modules, NMs

At least
two modules specifically dedicated to the science research were planned
to be docked to the Universal Docking Module, UDM. One of the modules
could be built by the Dnepropetrovsk-based KB Yuzhnoe as the Ukrainian
contribution into the ISS. In any case, RKK Energia was expected to serve
as main subcontractor on the project.

Stowage and Docking Module, MSS

As of 1994, an additional
stowage module could be docked to the nadir (Earth-facing) port of the
Zarya control module. However, RKK Energia and Khrunichev respectively
proposed the Enterprise module and Commercial Space Module, CSM, to replace
the original stowage module. The concept of the MSS module remained on paper.

At the end
of 1999, the US-based Spacehab Inc. announced a joint venture with RKK
Energia aimed to build the first privately financed and operated module
for the ISS. The spacecraft originally targeted for launch at the end
of 1992, would feature "a multimedia studio" for commercial
broadcasts from orbit. Before the module could become a reality, Spacehab
had to address multiple issues, among them cool reception from NASA and
lack of energy and communication capabilities onboard the Russian segment.

The Mini-Research Module 1, MIM-1, Rassvet (Dawn) became the fifth permanent element of the International Space Station built in Russia. The spacecraft was essentially a stopgap measure to fill the nadir (Earth-facing) docking port on the Zarya FGB control module of the outpost. Without some kind of extension, an originally planned addition of NASA's Node-3 module to a "next-door" nadir port on the Unity/Node 1 module of the American segment would block a safe access of the Soyuz spacecraft to the Russian segment.

As the construction of the Russian segment of the International Space Station, ISS, was about to pick up in the mid-2010s, the crews onboard the outpost would also refresh their wardrobes. By 2013, NPP Zvezda enterprise based in the town of Tomilino, southeast of Moscow, developed a new version of the venerable Orlan spacesuit, which were worn by pairs of Russian cosmonauts during as many as 135 spacewalks. The upgraded suit was dubbed Orlan MKS, where MKS stood for the Russian abbreviation of ISS.

Although
Khrunichev's contract with Boeing on the construction of the Zarya
control module financed only single module, the Moscow-based company
used spare parts and its own funds to build a backup spacecraft in case
the original Zarya fails in the launch mishap or in orbit. By the time,
Zarya, also known as FGB-1, successfully docked with Zvezda service module
in July 2000, the FGB-2 back up module was about 65 percent ready.

By mid-2000s, RKK Energia added a new element into the possible future configuration of the International Space Station, ISS, called "Uzlovoi Module" or Node Module in English. Despite its small size, a four-ton, ball-shaped module could play an extremely important role in the Russian space program.

After the cancellation of the NEP platform development in 2000s, it was decided to transfer most its functions to a pair of NEM modules, which would be attached to side ports of the yet-to-be-launched Node module, UM. In 2012, the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, officially approved the development of a single NEM-1 module.

While planning for the expansion of the Russian segment of the International Space Station, ISS, in the second half of 2000s, engineers at RKK Energia conceived a new Airlock Module, ShM, which would replace a Docking Compartment, SO, currently used for spacewalks. The new design also evolved to support the orbital assembly of deep-space vehicles.

Around 2012, the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, quietly replaced a highly advertised first launch of the nation's cosmonauts from the new space port in Vostochny with an automated space lab. The Oka-T module designed for periodic servicing by space station crews in orbit should provide an exit strategy for the Russian space officials, who made an impossible promise to the Kremlin to fly a manned mission from the new space center in 2018.

Half a century after Aleksei Leonov floated into open space through the inflatable airlock, the company that built his spacecraft, has jump-started work on multi-layered inflatable structures. In its annual report for 2012, RKK Energia said that the new project might pave the way for a new generation of space station modules, interplanetary spacecraft and planetary bases.